Editing Constrained writing (section)

==Description==

Constraints on writing are common and can serve a variety of purposes. For example, a text may place restrictions on its [[vocabulary]], e.g. [[Basic English]], [[E-Prime|copula-free text]], [[defining vocabulary]] for dictionaries, and other limited vocabularies for teaching [[English as an additional language|English as a second language]] or to children.

In poetry, formal constraints abound in both mainstream and experimental work. Familiar elements of poetry like [[rhyme]] and [[Meter (poetry)|meter]] are often applied as constraints. Well-established verse forms like the [[sonnet]], [[sestina]], [[villanelle]], [[Limerick (poetry)|limerick]], and [[haiku]] are variously constrained by meter, rhyme, repetition, length, and other characteristics.

Outside of established traditions, particularly in the [[avant-garde]], writers have produced a variety of work under more severe constraints; this is often what the term "constrained writing" is specifically applied to. For example:

* [[Lipogram]]: a letter (commonly e or o) is outlawed.
* [[Reverse-lipogram]]s: each word must contain a particular letter, the opposite concept of a standard lipogram.
* [[Univocalic|Univocalic poetry]], using only one vowel.
* Mandated vocabulary, where the writer must include specific words (for example, Quadrivial Quandary solicits individual sentences containing all four words in a daily selection).
* Bilingual homophonous poetry, where the poem makes sense in two different languages at the same time, constituting two simultaneous homophonous poems.<ref>[http://www.zuckermann.org/poetry.html Bilingual Homophonous Poetry] – Italo-Hebraic Bilingual Homophonous Poem by linguist [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann]], in which the Hebrew poem sounds identical to the Italian one, both making full sense – see Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2006), "Shir Du-Leshoni" (Bilingual Poem), ''Ho!, Literary Magazine'' 3, pp. 256–257.</ref>
* [[alliteration|Alliterative]]s or [[tautogram]]s, in which every word must start with the same letter (or subset of letters; see ''[[Alphabetical Africa]]'').
* [[Acrostic]]s: first letter of each word/sentence/paragraph forms a word or sentence.
* [[Abecedarius]]: first letter of each word/verse/section goes through the alphabet.
* [[Palindrome]]s, such as the word "[[radar]]", read the same forwards and backwards.
* [[Anglish]], favouring Anglo-Saxon words over Greek and Roman/Latin words.
* [[Pilish]], where the lengths of consecutive words match the digits of the [[pi|number π]].
* [[Anagram]]s, words or sentences formed by rearranging the letters of another.
* Limitations in punctuation, such as [[Peter Carey (novelist)|Peter Carey]]'s book ''[[True History of the Kelly Gang]]'', which features no [[comma]]s.
* [[One-syllable article]], a form unique to [[Chinese literature]], using many characters all of which are [[homophone]]s; the result looks sensible as writing but is very confusing when read aloud.
* Chaterism, where the length of words in a phrase or sentence increases or decreases in a uniform, mathematical way.
* [[Aleatory]], where the reader supplies a random input.
* [[Erasure (artform)|Erasure]], which involves erasing words from an existing text and framing the result on the page as a poem.

The [[Oulipo]] group is a gathering of writers who use such techniques. The [[Outrapo]] group uses [[theatrical constraints]].<ref name=CB2>{{cite web| last=Lundin|first=Leigh| title=L'Oulipo| url=http://www.criminalbrief.com/?p=7124 |work=Constrained Writing| publisher=Criminal Brief |access-date=28 February 2013| location=Orlando| date=2009-06-07}}</ref>

There are a number of constrained writing forms that are restricted by length, including:
* [[Six-Word Memoirs]]: 6 words
* [[Haiku]]: ~ 3 lines (5–7–5 syllables or 2–3–2 beats recommended.)
* [[Minisaga]]: 50 words, +15 for title
* [[Drabble]]: 100 words
* [[Twiction]]: espoused as a specifically constrained form of [[microfiction]] where a story or poem is exactly 140 characters long.
* [[Sijo]]: three lines average 14–16 syllables, for a total of 44–46: theme (3, 4,4,4); elaboration (3,4,4,4); counter-theme (3,5) and completion (4,3).